Too often, we are mistaken for druidic types. perhaps that's true for some shaman, but do not let yourself be plagued by the ignorant belief that we are always peaceful.
Nothing about what I do is harmonious. I command the elements to my will. There is nothing offered in return. I would have it no other way.

I wouldn't mind if Blizzard reintroduced agility swords, but it just wouldn't feel right. Enhancement Shamans are, in a way, brutes. We imbue our weapons with the elements and smash our opponents, there are no subtleties involved. While fighting with a mace, axe or fist weapon requires skill, it has a different feel than the graciousness of skilled swordplay.

Fist Weapons fit the same bill as Axes and Maces. They are more ferocious, or gruff, than daggers and swords. Just wouldn't feel right to see those on my fierce totemic warrior.

I wouldn't mind if Blizzard reintroduced agility swords, but it just wouldn't feel right. Enhancement Shamans are, in a way, brutes. We imbue our weapons with the elements and smash our opponents, there are no subtleties involved. While fighting with a mace, axe or fist weapon requires skill, it has a different feel than the graciousness of skilled swordplay.

Fist Weapons fit the same bill as Axes and Maces. They are more ferocious, or gruff, than daggers and swords. Just wouldn't feel right to see those on my fierce totemic warrior.

I agree with you. But, you know, my orc doesn't care about the weapon districtions... You give him a sword, He'll imbue it with elemental power and cut off his enemies' limbs.

Weapon restrictions are mostly not lore-based. They're itemization-based. They want most specs to have some restrictions, to force choices in gearing and to prevent EVERY drop being a free-for-all; same reason there's cloth/leather/mail/plate differences that they've tried to enforce. If Shaman could use swords, we'd be able to use almost every weapon in the game, the only other classes with as wide an availability would be Rogues and Warriors.

You also need to recall the lore variations of the class; if you think of your Shaman as a burly elemental warrior type, that's fine, but the Shaman class also includes witch doctor types (see Hex, for instance), and for those, daggers are pretty iconic.

Could they add swords for Shaman? Sure. They could add daggers for Paladins, too. And maces for Mages/Warlocks. They don't, and they have reasons.

Realistically speaking, the martial artsy monks in real life generally are masters of hand-to-hand combat, including a wide variety of weaponry. It ain't just about throwing punches and kicks.

Shaman, on the other hand, are highly tribal. Swords are too modern and refined for the Shamanistic vibe. Axes are amongst the oldest of weapons because, after the knife, man created something to chop lumber down. Maces are just blunt beating instruments which can be as crude as a rock bound to the end of a stick. Fists are a little iffy, but I'll still let them slide.

---------- Post added 2013-01-27 at 04:28 AM ----------

Originally Posted by Endus

They could add daggers for Paladins, too. And maces for Mages/Warlocks. They don't, and they have reasons.

It still bothers me a little that Paladins can use Axes. Axes are a bit too... primitive and undignified for them, in my opinion. And for some reason, I don't like Death Knights using Maces. I see them as the time that hacks and slashes, not crushes. Warriors, it's all fair game.

It still bothers me a little that Paladins can use Axes. Axes are a bit too... primitive and undignified for them, in my opinion. And for some reason, I don't like Death Knights using Maces. I see them as the time that hacks and slashes, not crushes. Warriors, it's all fair game.

Bothers me, too, on both accounts. The only Pally race axes fit are Tauren. But I guess it's for some balance reasons. At least that's what I gathered.

Weapon restrictions are mostly not lore-based. They're itemization-based. They want most specs to have some restrictions, to force choices in gearing and to prevent EVERY drop being a free-for-all; same reason there's cloth/leather/mail/plate differences that they've tried to enforce. If Shaman could use swords, we'd be able to use almost every weapon in the game, the only other classes with as wide an availability would be Rogues and Warriors.

DW monks wouldn't be caught dead with a dagger and therefore aren't limited as all weapon choices for them are sword/axe/mace.

As long as blizzard keeps making the BS weapons agi swords, the limitation is ridiculous and has no argument against it other than "uniqueness over balance". That is the only one. There is no issue with too many weapons as since wrath blizzard as intentionally done things so weapon type is a non-issue outside of a couple outliers, yet we see an agi sword most patches. We don't see str fist weapons most patches (my condolences to dk's in 4.0, though) so dk's aren't in a similar situation either.

dagger use to be good for enhan in BC. there are a OP dhammy Dagger spec. now if they made daggers viable for enhan that would be nice too. maybe a passive the buffs the damage while using a dagger.

Tbh I can imagine swords looking good on an shaman in many cases (esp when you're a troll (which are more axes/swords than maces/fists) or draenei (which are more sword/mace than axe/fists)). I cannot in any way imagine thimough daggers looking good on any shaman, except maybe goblins. Imagine a mighty tauren with two knives. Or a mean green orc? Or a stury dwarf. Not working.
And daggers were good for maybe 3-5 months (dunno how long it took them to fix down scaling wf/wf (using wf of different ranks to avoid the icd)). Daggers were only ever good because of that exploit. I dont see much of a difference between having a dagger or sword dangling at your side as a caster, you will hardly ever notice it anyways. But it'd be a huge difference in melee.

I voted the "for enh only" option, not because I dont think my caster brothers do not deserve them, but because there is caster weapon balance to consider.
The only agility melee which is ever left out of a good slow agi weapon is enhance, and that's unbalanced and unfair.

Just like strenght polearms (arms), or agility 2h swords/axes/maces (prior to MoP, since feral couldn't weild swords/axes, and hunters no maces), itemizing into weilding gaps isn't blizzard's style, so I dont get why they make an exception here. I guess 1h swords are to much a centric weapon type to ignore completely, but if that's so, where would be the hurt in making them avaiable to enh shamans? I mean, there'd still be x-mog to still make them look like more primal weapon types, for those not comfortable with the style. Cant be any worse than rogues running around with giant cleavers, right?

Last edited by Omanley; 2013-01-27 at 01:02 PM.

Originally Posted by Angoth

I'm sorry that Blizzard won't just gift wrap awesome in a cup and let you drink your fill.